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City Council Minutes Page 5 <br /> September 5,2017 <br /> ----------------------------- <br /> Council discussed the following: <br /> ■ Sale options of existing property. <br /> ■ Safety concerns with Station 1. <br /> ■ Current driveway easement needed with adjacent county property as Station <br /> 1 to protect city access in the event the county sells the property. <br /> ■ Response times from the various station location models. <br /> ■ Population standards for building stations and how much the city is paying <br /> for its geographical burden compared to other communities. It was noted the <br /> station locations are based on response time to the various geographical areas <br /> based on their challenges, such as the railroad. <br /> ■ Otsego station and whether they'll want to create their own department. <br /> ■ Whether the Cleveland Street site is the best location on the east side of the <br /> city due to: <br /> • Traffic <br /> • Buses/walkers during peak school times <br /> • New surrounding development <br /> • Ingress/egress of station design <br /> • Use of fire station parking lot due to limited parking in school lot <br /> • Noise <br /> 10.2 2018 Budget <br /> Ms. Ziemer presented the staff report. <br /> There was discussion regarding property taxes and valuation. <br /> Councilmember Westgaard stated valuations are outside of city control and Council <br /> should focus on whether a$1 million budget increase is justifiable. He stated the city <br /> continues to grow and hasn't been adding any new positions. <br /> Mayor Dietz expressed concerns because the amount seems like a large increase in a <br /> one-year period. He noted half the increase is due to the public safety portion of the <br /> budget and may bring fewer complaints from property owners. He stated vehicles <br /> for police and fire ($93,500) for the new employees should come out of the <br /> Equipment Replacement Fund and not the General Fund as currently noted in the <br /> draft budget. <br /> Mr. Portner stated new capital expenditures are initially funded by the general tax <br /> levy and the future replacement funds are then allocated from the General Fund to <br /> the Equipment Replacement Fund each year over the expected lifespan of the <br /> vehicle. He expressed concerns with the depletion of the Equipment Replacement <br /> Fund,which has not had a proper allocation from the General Fund in the past due <br /> to General Fund budget increase concerns. He stated we need to re-evaluate the <br /> replacement schedule of our vehicles. He further stated,we currently replace police <br /> vehicles every 4 years,which was based on the wear experienced on the Crown <br /> Victoria sedans. Police now use SUVs which are intended to be much more rugged <br /> otmaA UREJ <br />